Retired NFL Vets Sue EA Over Madden

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Electronic Arts taken to court over historic teams.

By Jim Reilly

A class action lawsuit consisting of approximately 6,000 retired National Football League players has been filed against Electronic Arts for the unlawful use the players' likenesses in Madden NFL 09's historic teams.

The suit alleges Electronic Arts "knowingly and intentionally" used the retired players' likenesses in such a way to avoid having to pay licensing fees. Plaintiff and former NFL running back Tony Davis contends EA misappropriated the retired players by using their exact player stats and positions from when they were active in the league, including height and weight, but would remove their names and change their uniform numbers.

"The only significant detail that EA changes from the real-life retired NFL players is their jersey number," the suit says. "Despite EA's 'scrambling' of the retired NFL players' numbers, the games are designed so that consumers of the Madden NFL video game franchise will have no difficulty identifying who the 'historic' players are."

The suit also says that despite not including the players' names and original uniform numbers in Madden NFL 09, users can still go in and edit the roster to include them.

The class seeks punitive damages for deprivation and violation of publicity rights

An EA representative told IGN the company does not comment on pending litigation.